ASMFC Board Approves Addendum II to the Atlantic Sturgeon FMP
Addendum Allows for Commercial Aquaculture in North Carolina
The Commission’s Atlantic Sturgeon Management Board approved Addendum II to Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Sturgeon. The Addendum provides exemptions to Amendment 1 to allow a commercial aquaculture operation in North Carolina. The exemptions will permit importation of Atlantic sturgeon from a Canadian source and allow possession, production, and sale of cultured fish by a private company in North Carolina. It is anticipated that sale of cultured sturgeon caviar and meat would not occur for at least three years.
Amendment 1 establishes a moratorium on harvest and possession of Atlantic sturgeon to allow for recovery of spawning stocks to population levels that will provide for sustainable fisheries and viable spawning populations. The target of the Amendment is to have at least 20 protected age classes of females in each spawning stock, which may take 20 to 40 years from initiation of the moratorium in 1998.
Historically, the United States supported a large market for Atlantic sturgeon products. Addendum II seeks to reestablish part of that market by providing a domestic product through an environmentally and socially sound aquaculture operation. To ensure protection of wild stocks, the Addendum requires that the prior to the sale of caviar or meat from cultured sturgeon, the commercial aquaculture operation must prove to the Commission’s satisfaction that the caviar and meat were produced from cultured fish and not wild stocks. Additionally, the Addendum prohibits aquarium or pet trades to prevent the accidental or planned release of cultured sturgeon into the wild.
Copies the Addendum II are available via the Commission’s website at
bs****@as***.org
.
ASMFC Board Approves Addendum II to the Atlantic Sturgeon FMP
Addendum Allows for Commercial Aquaculture in North Carolina
The Commission’s Atlantic Sturgeon Management Board approved Addendum II to Amendment 1 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Sturgeon. The Addendum provides exemptions to Amendment 1 to allow a commercial aquaculture operation in North Carolina. The exemptions will permit importation of Atlantic sturgeon from a Canadian source and allow possession, production, and sale of cultured fish by a private company in North Carolina. It is anticipated that sale of cultured sturgeon caviar and meat would not occur for at least three years.
Amendment 1 establishes a moratorium on harvest and possession of Atlantic sturgeon to allow for recovery of spawning stocks to population levels that will provide for sustainable fisheries and viable spawning populations. The target of the Amendment is to have at least 20 protected age classes of females in each spawning stock, which may take 20 to 40 years from initiation of the moratorium in 1998.
Historically, the United States supported a large market for Atlantic sturgeon products. Addendum II seeks to reestablish part of that market by providing a domestic product through an environmentally and socially sound aquaculture operation. To ensure protection of wild stocks, the Addendum requires that the prior to the sale of caviar or meat from cultured sturgeon, the commercial aquaculture operation must prove to the Commission’s satisfaction that the caviar and meat were produced from cultured fish and not wild stocks. Additionally, the Addendum prohibits aquarium or pet trades to prevent the accidental or planned release of cultured sturgeon into the wild.
Copies the Addendum II are available via the Commission’s website at
bs****@as***.org
.